‘Twas meant to be

Pole vaulter EJ Obiena made history in style at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, last weekend. Not only did the star from Tondo reset his own Asian record with a leap of 5.94 meters but he also became the first Southeast Asian to land a podium finish in the biennial competition. The first and only other Asian to win a medal was Kazakhstan’s Grigoriy Yegorov who took the silver with a jump of 5.90 meters in 1993. There have been 18 championships since Helsinki in 1983.

Obiena, 26, made the final cut of 12 at the qualifiers last Friday. Four of 32 in the start list registered an NM (No Mark) and crashed out of contention with two failing to clear 5.30 and two others missing 5.50. Exactly 12 made it over 5.75, short of the original qualifying standard of 5.80 and advanced to the final. Obiena cleared 5.50 on his second attempt, 5.65 on his first and 5.75 on his second. He ranked sixth in the qualifiers.

PATAFA president Terry Capistrano, watching from the stands, was almost speechless when Obiena clinched the bronze. “’Twas meant to be,” he said in an overseas phone call. “Actually, I never thought it would be this easy. Parang ang dali niya ginawa. EJ made it look easy. He was so confident out there. I saw it in the Friday qualifiers. No expression on his face, he didn’t show pressure. I think the other competitors saw EJ’s look and were probably intimidated.”

Capistrano said the only thing he told Obiena before Sunday’s final was to hydrate. “You know me, I’m a man of few words,” he said. “I’m a one-liner type of guy. That’s all I told EJ, hydrate. He knows what to do, he’s prepared for this. There’s nothing more anyone can say to inspire him.”

Of the 12 finalists, the Netherlands’ Menno Vloon exited on the first mark of 5.55, failing thrice to clear. Obiena did it on his first attempt then took two tries before clearing 5.70. He jumped only once to clear 5.80 and also once to jump 5.87. Obiena set a new personal record of 5.94 on his second try. American Chris Nilsen cleared 5.94 on his first attempt. Both Obiena and Nilsen tried thrice to clear 6.00 but failed. In a tie for second place, Nilsen claimed the silver as he had one less attempt to clear 5.94 and Obiena pocketed the bronze.

“EJ went for 6.00,” said Capistrano. “It’s like in basketball. If you’re a shooter, you keep going for a three-pointer until you make it. For EJ, 6.00 will come, it’s just a matter of time. It will happen. EJ’s on track for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Tuluy-tuloy na ‘yan. Oregon was historic not only because of EJ’s new Asian record. (Mondo) Duplantis finished first with a new world record of 6.21.” Capistrano cited the efforts of Obiena’s team in contributing to the feat – coach Vitaliy Petrov, physiotherapist Nico Viscusi and PATAFA coach Jeoffrey Chua. Obiena flew back to his Italy quarters on an 8 a.m. flight yesterday.